Law
The last laugh
Scotland’s new Hate Crime Bill will make criminals of comedians
The Begum Appeal is a fundamental error of logic
There has been an emotional response to the case of Shamima Begum, quite rightly. It is not clear to me…
The rule of law is collapsing
It is the law that makes us ‘the best of animals.’ So saying, Aristotle had a very specific conception of…
Nothing sacred
Hate legislation is blasphemy law by another name
Could a sex-strike solve Brexit?
Last week the Lawyers Group of the charity Classics for All held its fifth moot (cf. ‘meet’) in the Supreme…
The unparalleled entertainment – and heartbreaking reality – of watching a court hearing
‘Barristers’ speeches vanish quicker than Chinese dinners, and even the greatest victory in court rarely survives longer than the next…
How verbal and physical abuse drove me out of the police
The past decade has not been kind to those we entrust, in the words of Sir Robert Peel, ‘to give…
Boris Johnson may have found an advocate in ancient Greece
Boris Johnson is to be tried at the Crown Court on the grounds that, during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign,…
Forget the The Reith Lectures. To understand the world listen to George the Poet
At last a podcast that takes the medium to its limit, created by someone who loves listening, understands how it…
As a QC, I believe the time has come to legalise drugs
I have been a defence lawyer for more than 25 years. I have defended clients charged with almost every crime…
Crackles with nylon, self-regard and unearned privilege: On the Basis of Sex reviewed
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is too ill to sit on the Supreme Court. When she saw On the Basis of Sex,…
Why former prisoners make the best lawyers
Kampala I am terrified of being with former death-row prisoner Susan Kigula. This is because she qualified for her…
Victims of crime should not decide justice
Hard cases make bad law. The release on parole of the ‘black cab rapist’, John Worboys, is a hard case.…
A QC’s guide to cocaine
Drug-taking is less glamorous when you know how the trade really works
Henry III vs EU law
It is no surprise that the laws imposed on the UK by a European parliament in Brussels should so infuriate…
No hiding place
Technology has made murderers much easier to catch
Barometer
Matters of life and death Lord Lucan is now officially presumed dead. How do you have someone declared dead? In…
A Supreme Court justice and the scary plan to outlaw climate change
How do you make an imaginary problem so painfully real that everyone suffers? It’s an odd question to ask, you…
Students against abortion
Young people are becoming more pro-life
Barometer
Naming terror David Cameron and the BBC argued over what to call the terror group most papers refer to as…
Laying down the law
A great test of political leadership is how well you deal with vested interests on your own side. In his…
A warrant for exit
The European Arrest Warrant is incompatible with our tradition of justice
The age of the Skype Dad
What happens when a divorce court accepts video calls as a substitute for visiting your children
Real life
My request to see my medical notes has sparked all-out panic at the GP surgery. ‘What do you mean?’ said…
How do you define tax avoidance?
On the face of it, the moral case against tax avoidance seems pretty straightforward. If you’re a UK taxpayer and…
